T K H C

🍁 Chapter 39

Large cushions, a cute tea table, a vanity table, and a bed. Even the pink sign on the bathroom door.

I sat beside Carol’s bed and looked around the room. Then, I opened a book again.

It was a book called ‘The Parallel Relationship Between Magic and Time.’ Small words written in fine print were arranged into boring rows.

“Eeeh… Sharon.”

I stroked Carol’s head as she whined and snuggled against me. The thin hair that touched my fingertips was wet with sweat.

"Yeah.”

“Sharon… I, I, uhhh.”

Just what sort of dream was she having to be this loud?

I looked away from the book and saw Carol crumple her face and grumble.

“Waaah! C-candy…! It’s mine!”

…Was she upset about having to share some candies with Julien? It wasn’t that unfair, was it?

I held Carol’s stretching hand. Perhaps she mistook my hand for candy, but she soon fell back into a peaceful sleep.

When will she grow up?

I rubbed her cheek and turned back to my book. I was going to go back to my room after a while as long as Carol’s fever didn’t rise.

However, I ended up falling asleep by Carol’s side.

***

Today’s dream was worse than usual.

"Carol! "Carol!

Darkness clung to me like a bog. I was deserted in the dark that pulled on my feet.

In my hand was a dagger stained with blood. My hands, my dress—they were all soaked crimson.

In the darkness without a single ray of light, the red blood was vivid in my vision.

Up to this point, it was the same dream as usual.

But then, it deviated. The face of the victim in front of me was revealed.

Gray hair and dark green eyes.

My face, reflected in her lifeless eyes, was also stained with blood.

I reached out to Carol with trembling hands. My body was slowly sinking into the darkness.

"Carol! Carol!"

I shook Carol with my hands, which had yet to be absorbed by the blackness. I pressed down on her bleeding chest and touched her face with my other hand.

"Open your eyes, Carol! Open… them! Carol!"

But there was no way she could hear me.

I couldn’t even feel her heart beating under my palm.

I tried to hug Carol, but she slipped from my grasp, and I was alone in the dark.

The darkness adhered to my crouching form. Even in that, I was alone.

I stood up, still feeling the heat of the blood on my hands.

It was as if it was all my fault. The scene began to spin around me with a creaking sound. A gruesome laughter came from the whirlpool of darkness.

'Do you think this is the end?'

The high pitched voice that was like the wind frightened me, and I finally woke up.

***

"Huff! Huff!"

This was crazy.

What kind of dumb dream was this?!